Rep. Fox Did Right Thing For Legal Aid

July 28, 1996|The Morning Call

Jon Fox, the freshman House Republican from Montgomery County, showed backbone and leadership last week when he led an effort to restore funding to the Legal Services Corp., which provides lawyers for poor people in civil cases.

Cynics might say that Rep. Fox took his stand as a way of positioning himself closer to the center for the upcoming election. But Rep. Fox, as a former board member of Montgomery County Legal Aid, knows that the service is needed. His Republican party has made the elimination of Legal Aid one of its goals, so he was caught in the middle. Give him credit: as one of two main sponsors of legislation restoring $109 million for the service in 1997, he did the right thing.

Because of funding cutbacks, Legal Aid already has had to close about 10 percent of its offices. Even if Rep. Fox's measure gets through the Senate, funding still will be $28 million below this year's level, $278 million. In 1995, it received about $400 million. But with the improved funding, Legal Aid can survive.

Legal Aid has come under attack because it has represented prison inmates and because it has filed class-action lawsuits. To some, it has a "left-wing agenda." But legislation already passed this year put an end to class-action suits and representation for prisoners.

That leaves Legal Aid with the same kinds of cases that law offices everywhere handle: divorces, child-custody fights and disputes between tenants and landlords. The difference is that without Legal Aid, poor people will not have the access to the courts to which all Americans are entitled.